BIM
Science & Engineering abbreviation · Engineering
| Stands for | Building information modeling |
|---|---|
| Categories | Science & Engineering |
BIM stands for Building information modeling, an engineering abbreviation.
Process of creating and managing a shared digital model of a building or infrastructure asset that contains geometry plus data such as materials, quantities, costs and maintenance information. Architects, engineers, contractors and owners use BIM to coordinate design, detect clashes and plan construction and operation.
Example: Clash detection in the BIM model found 1,200 conflicts before any steel was ordered.
Usage notes
Charles Eastman described building description systems in the 1970s; Graphisoft's ArchiCAD (1987) and Autodesk Revit (2000) popularized the approach. The UK government required BIM Level 2 on centrally procured public projects from 2016. The open IFC format lets different software exchange models.
Related abbreviations
More engineering abbreviations
- AEC – Architecture, engineering and construction
- AFUE – Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency
- AHU – Air handling unit
- ASME – American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- ASTM – ASTM International
- BOM – Bill of materials
- CAD – Computer-aided design
- CAE – Computer-aided engineering
- CAM – Computer-aided manufacturing
- CFD – Computational fluid dynamics
- CNC – Computer numerical control
- COP – Coefficient of performance